Sharon Saunders 254-583-0043

josephsaunders@windstream.net
P.O. Box 536 Rosebud, Texas 76570

I paint memories, portraits of critters and landscapes. I know that the dear companions will be gone all too soon. Places change too. The season, the weather, the time of day... a moment of splendor is fleeting. Development can change the land irrevocably. A painting is one way to capture a moment and keep it. I paint intricate, highly detailed images because that is what I like to see. Distant vistas, like impressionistic ones, leave me hungry. A scenic drive makes me itch to walk, to see it all close up. I want to paint every hair, leaf, blade of grass, rock. I especially enjoy making large paintings of small places - intimate landscapes - jewels for the hunter of natural treasures.
Plein aire painting is a delightful torture, a pleasurable pain. I am where I want to be - out there, feeling the warm rocks and cold water, smelling the sage, the sycamore and cedar. But to choose just one spot and 'quick, quick, hurry faster' try to catch it before the light changes goes against my nature. My sister, artist Sandy Bennett, reminds me to just 'think of it as a study'. Her presence on these adventures has made them the high point of my artistic life. She challenges me and spurs me on. We have so much fun talking and laughing that we almost forget to breathe.
When I take these studies to my easel the pace slows. Sometimes it feels as if time stops altogether. I get lost in the tapestry that is before me. I love the feel of creamy oil paints as they are brushed on the coarse canvas and the smell of the linseed oil and the lavender that I use for mediums. The rhythmic brushwork, layering on the colors and textures is hypnotic and habit-forming to me.
Original paintings may be seen at Prellops Gallery in Salado and The Giving Tree in Belton which also has giclees.